Topic: quick question LED

[xsmooth69x]

ok so LED on these old bikes.......

i am not good at all with electrical engineering stuff.

i have these strip leds



and these bullet turn signal brake light things

also regarding LED blinkers i head u need a solid state flasher? wtf is that and where do i get one? or do i even need it?



totally stock photos from google images but those are the kinds things im working with.

i also replaced 1 light bulb with an led and use the supplied resistor and wired that on it too

i have a resistor on the leds im installing on the bike and they work when i put them up to a 9v battery but when i put them up to my motorcycle battery they dont turn on.....

i also have this LED licence plate led thing

[xsmooth69x]

Yes, you'll at least need a solid state flasher.  Any auto parts store will have one.

sweet ill check o riley auto parts and see if they have one

anyone else for all the other LED connection stuff

[stereosilence]

There is a CERTAIN flasher you need to get if I remember right (particularly if you are replacing front and rear with LEDs). Search other threads. There are three numbers on the back that you have to check to get the right one.

You didn't say which light you replaced, but in general, the resister is only used if you aren't using the solid state flasher. It makes the load similar to a standard light bulb. You need to go back and make sure all your LEDs work with 12v. You may have had the leads backwards when you connected it to the battery. You can connect the black wire to the frame if you want and touch the red wire to the + terminal and the LEDs should come on.

Make sure to check your wires to make sure they receive the proper voltage (12V). All the ground wires should be the same (you can use the continuity option on your multimeter) and should be shorted to the frame. I usually stick one probe in a screw hole and touch the other to all the ground wires and make sure they are connected.

The license plate lights should be easy. They should connect to the power and ground for the rear running lights (the one that is always on).

[xsmooth69x]

ya i might have gotten the leads mixed up

other than the blinkers the reason i said resistors was i replaced the bulbs in the speedo with LEDs and that is why i put the resistors on.

does anyone know what the magic number on the solid state flasher is? is this a model number? some kind of electrical number? what am i looking for? also i dont even know where to start when inputing that into the search engine forum criteria to even look for it

[aperry]

I just did this on my 750k build and got it working quickly with a Trident EP35, which I think is pretty common.  They have them at both AutoZone and Advanced Auto for about $13. 
http://www.autozone.com/autozone/parts/_/N-9cjef?itemIdentifier=6415_0_0_

My bike had the three-prong stock flasher, so this was a plug and play replacement.  Search for "EP35" in the forums and you should find some info describing which wire goes where.

You only need this part for the turn signals.  I would expect the license plate lights and that "strip" to work without it, provided they are 12V and are wired correctly.

Couple of other notes: 
1.  LEDs are "diodes" which means only flows through them one way.  If positive and negative are reversed then they won't work.
2.  For whatever reason, even with the EP35 my front turn signals would not work until my rear turn signals were connected.  Might help to know that when you're installing.

Hope this helps,
Aaron

[xsmooth69x]

perfect thanks aperry!!

i will buy that flasher. i will double check if the cb550 is a 2 or 3 prong

ya i might have connected it wrong.... i know the longer section of the led is + and the resistor can be connected to either end.

i will run through the electrical much closer and report back thanks!!

[aperry]

As someone mentioned above, I don't think you should need resistors if you get the EP35.  Some people used resistors connected to each of their turn signal LED's instead of using the EP35 (or similar).  I believe the stock flasher unit needed to detect a voltage drop across the turn signal lights, but the LED lights require such low power that the drop is negligible.  But you shouldn't need resistors if you get the EP35 because it works differently.  I think they would also defeat the energy savings of the LEDs.

I suppose it's possible that you bought 5V LED's which require resistors to bring the 12v voltage down to that level, but it seems unlikely that someone would be selling 5V license plate bolts and turn signals. 

Good luck!
Aaron

[shorty24]

To boil all of this down, you will need a solid state flasher relay to replace the stock thermal relay in order to get your LED turn signals to work properly.  Going this route, you will not need to install the resistors.  For all the rest of the LED lighting, provided they are 12V lights and wired properly, they should work just fine without any modification.

[xsmooth69x]

sorry sorry miss communication here........ 

the LED with the resistors went into my gauge clusters

i used these LED's for my computer case and upon sticking them to a 9v battery they burnt out in an instant. so that is why i put the resistors on these single LED's
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i just needed to know what solid state flasher i needed which was the ep35. no resistors are put on

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i really doubt i will need resistors for the licence plate LED since they are made for motorcycles which are 12v

[stereosilence]

You should be fine. Computer LEDs generally run on 5V. So 9V (sans resistor for current limiting) can blow them. Anything you buy for a motorcycle should run on 12V no problem.